From the original Star Wars trilogy to Starship Troopers, legendary and Oscar Award-winning visual effects artist Phil Tippett has long established himself a pioneer and master of stop-motion animation. He’s kept so busy that it’s taken him thirty years to complete his personal stop-motion animated masterwork, Mad God.
A new trailer, below, has unveiled a peek at the a sprawling dystopian sci-fi nightmare ahead of its premiere at Locarno Film Festival on August 5.
Tippett’s website describes the dystopian setting of Mad God as “a Miltonesque world of monsters, mad scientists, and war pigs.” With everything crafted by hand, the plot follows a lone character navigating a bizarre world filled with nightmarish creatures and madmen. Emphasis on nightmarish. The teaser gives glimpses of arachnid monsters, hazardous landscapes, and indescribable piles of undulating fleshy beasts.
The stop-motion animation wizard first began the project after completing work on Robocop 2 before putting it on pause to create dinosaur effects for Jurassic Park. After twenty years, the artist returned to the project once more, releasing the project in small shorts between 2014 and 2018. Tippett also gave behind the scenes clips of his work on his YouTube channel.
After making its premiere at the Locarno Film Festival, Mad God will screen at the Fantasia Film Festival on August 22, 2021.